Living in the Twilight Zone - Week Two

You know the old saying, "be careful what you wish for?"  Well, right now I'm the living proof that the saying is pretty accurate. 

I worked hard --- and A LOT!  Three days of the week, I would leave my apartment at 6:45 am and would not get home until 7:30 pm. In addition to that, I also worked Saturday mornings. 

At first I thought two or three weeks under lock down would be great!  Of course the reason for the lock down makes me sick at heart, but the downtime and calmness isolation bought, would be a welcome respite. 

This has NOT been the case. I love teaching---I love my work---and I love my students. Being without these things has been challenging. And just today, schools will now be cancelled until May 1.  Many believe we will not see the inside of a classroom again this year. I prefer not to think about it too much.😞

But besides being bored and feeling redundant, there have been a few positives...

------ with all this home time, I was able to give each room in my apartment a good cleaning. I'ts amazing how much surface cleaning takes place when one is hardly ever home. Then, when I was home, I just closed myself in my bedroom and mentally blocked out the state of the apartment.

BUT NOW

The Living Room

The Kitchen

Even the kitchen cupboards got a good cleaning. And I bought all new dishes, bowls, cups, and storage containers since the dishwasher destroyed our other ones (that's a saga for another day...oy)

Whoops...accidentally left the cat nip out!

She was probably flying high while I was stuck cleaning up the mess.

Zack's Closet

And Zack's Room

Finally...the bathroom

I did not take before pictures because I would have been embarrassed. 

-------NO TRAFFIC!!! The low traffic volume in Orlando is positive proof that 80% of the drivers are visitors.  I have had no stress driving for the past two weeks. There are no drivers going 10-15 under the speed limit, changing lanes at the last nanosecond, turning right or left from the straight lane, darting in front of you causing you to have to slam on the brakes because "oh...that's where I want to be", and not knowing where they are or where they are going.  It's been wonderful! Not that I'm out  driving much though.

------- More time with Ollie, Sadie, and Zack.  Especially Ollie. When we first got Ollie, I was the one home most of the time. I fed him, took him out, trained him, cuddled with him the most, and he became very attached to me. No doubt I was the alpha dog in his "pack". Recently though, I am gone A LOT! and Zack is always home, so Ollie has been growing closer to him and farther away from me. 

------Not having to wake up at 6 dark thirty!  The only aspect of my job I didn't like was the early wake up. I am most definitely NOT a morning person. On the other hand, sleeping in every day (10:30 is sleeping in for me) is not a great option for me either, so I've been finding a happy medium and setting my alarm (M-F) at 8:30. 


At lease there is some humor dispersed throughout the day, like this video with the caption...Every Couple During Quarantine" 

Living on the Edge

We are living in unprecedented times. 

The number of known Coronavirus cases in the United States is now between 32,000 and 36,000 (depending on which source you cite) with nearly 400 deaths and not enough test kits to cover the demand. 

People across the country are encouraged to stay home unless they have an imperative reason to venture out. Here in Orlando an 11:00 curfew has been imposed, all theme parks have been closed, and restaurants have gone to drive-thru or pick-up only.  

The absence of traffic has been interesting/remarkable/astonishing and, if I'm being honest, it's a nice, relaxing change...until I remember the reason for this "vacation destination" city turning into a veritable ghost town. 

This was Friday evening traffic (5:45p.m. March 20)

The first two pictures are normally extremely busy intersections. 

The last picture is the entrance to my apartment complex. Normally, traffic is so backed up at the light down the street, I have to turn in between cars who are kind enough to leave some space. 

This is our new normal for now. I have gone from spending between 3-5 hours a day awake and at home, to barely ever leaving. It's been an adjustment to say the least. We have been told to expect some remote training this week in anticipation of beginning online education March 30. This could last anywhere between 2 weeks to 2 months. Most believe the latter. I prefer to hold out hope for somewhere in the middle...maybe end of April. I just cannot imagine not seeing my kiddos again.

Thankfully, there is some light-hearted humor to enjoy. Of all I've seen, this is by far my favorite.

It was so wildly popular, it was followed up by a couple more

I could watch these over and over again all day long.